Mooney on Theatre is looking for Editorial Volunteers!
By Wayne Leung
Are you passionate about theatre and the performing arts? Are you an online media junkie who spends hours pouring over blogs and news sites? Are you looking for experience working in digital media? Do you want to be part of a dynamic editorial team at the helm of a growing online publication? If you answered “yes” to any of the above, Mooney on Theatre is looking for you!
We’re looking for two people to join us as Volunteer Assistant Editors (Internship) for an 8-month period that runs from March to November 2015 (with possibility for extension).
About Mooney on Theatre
Mooney on Theatre (mooneyontheatre.com) is a recognized go-to source for information about theatre in Toronto. The fast-growing online publication focusing on theatre, was started in April 2008 with a single writer; Founding Editor, Megan Mooney. Since its establishment the publication has grown to include over 20 regular contributors and has an established and loyal readership.
See the full post for details about the position. Read the rest of this entry »
Mirvish Announces Their 2015-16 Season
By Wayne Leung
An all-Canadian production of Matilda the Musical in Toronto anchors Mirvish’s 2015-16 season
Without much fanfare or any public event Mirvish quietly sent out a press release today announcing its 2015-16 season. An open-ended engagement of Matilda the Musical featuring an all-Canadian cast anchors their season which brings Broadway hits such as Motown the Musical, If/Then and the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder to Toronto. Mirvish will also present a new, re-staged production of The Phantom of the Opera as a bonus show.
Check out all the details of the new season, the Off-Mirvish season at the Panasonic Theatre and the bonus shows below.
Which shows are you most looking forward to seeing?
Cheap Theatre for the Week of March 3rd, 2015
Live Shows for $25 or Less
Oh, but the theatres are bustling! Every Mirvish house is doing gangbusters business, while Canadian Stage, Tarragon and Theatre Passe Muraille are also on the hop. An all-new show in at The Second City, breathtaking dance down at Harbourfront, and you never know what you’ll find at the Comedy Bar — it’s a great week to love performance in this city, plain and simple.
But in the midst of all this spectacle, don’t forget about the little productions. This week, Mooney on Theatre’s Cheap Theatre listings focus on tight, character-oriented stories which don’t rely on glitz, fog machines or acrobatics to tug you in. These five pieces use individual experiences — stories about one or two people — to draw conclusions about our world, telling a small story to explore the big ones.
Toronto Playlistings for the Week of March 2, 2015
By Wayne Leung
Shows That Caught Our Eye This Week
We’re into the month of March and spring is just around the corner… really, it is. Regardless, all the venues in this week’s theatre listings are indoors and heated. The shows I’ve indicated with two asterisks and red text are the ones I’d love to see this week. See if you agree or go check out anything else that speaks to you!
Review: Ce n’est pas la fin du monde (Sylvain Émard/Harbourfront Centre/NextSteps)
By Mark Mann
Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre presents Sylvain Émard’s Ce n’est pas la fin du monde as part of its dance program
The world feels strange. The air seems thick with unknowns: frequencies we can’t see, invisible clouds of data, other people’s secrets. Everything is changing so quickly, and there are so many questions that we hardly know how to ask. Is there something we’re supposed to be doing? Some insight we’re missing, or some revelation waiting to happen?
Montreal choreographer Sylvain Émard‘s Ce n’est pas la fin du monde (It’s not the end of the world), performed one night only at the Fleck Dance Theatre on February 28 as part of the Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps program, brings audiences face-to-face with the uncertainty of our anxious zeitgeist. It may not be the end of the world, but it’s not the most comfortable place either.
Review: Midsummer (a play with songs) (Théâtre français de Toronto)
By Mara Gulens
Midsummer (a play with songs) is “a night of Toronto theatre that becomes a trip around the world”
It’s not often the drama gods raise the curtain on two similar yet completely different productions in one week.
On Tuesday I took in the all-Canadian version of the Tony-award-winning Once. On Wednesday I was immersed in Midsummer (a play with songs) where Scotland stands in for Ireland, and English surtitles interpret French. Both plays revolve around a man, woman and songs. Plus guitar. Plus love.
Review: Once (Mirvish)
By Wayne Leung
Mirvish presents the Tony Award-winning musical Once with an all-Canadian cast in Toronto
Once, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2012, adapted from the 2006 film of the same title, has returned to Toronto following a sold out six-week engagement of the US Touring production in late 2013. This time, Mirvish has produced a new production of the show featuring an all-Canadian cast. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Elvis’s Toenail (Toronto Irish Players)
By Gian Verano
Elvis’s Toenail, playing at the Alumnae Theatre in Toronto, is a “triumphant, emotional period piece” not to be missed
In their purest form, rules are meant to protect us, to keep us from harm. But throughout our collective history, there’s always been a fierce debate: what’s more important, the letter of the law or its spirit?
Ireland during the 1960’s, like many countries, it was still dominated by the rule of the Catholic Church. Many things considered to be freedoms in modern society – like a woman’s right to choose or even to keep her baby out of wedlock – were staunchly prohibited and fiercely punished.
It’s within this context that Elvis’s Toenail, playing until March 7th at The Alumnae Theatre, takes place.
When a runaway pregnant teenager shows up at a Dublin seamstress shop desperate for a job, her coworkers must decide whether to surrender her to the Church or break the rules in order for her protection. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: This Side of Heaven (Humber College Theatre)
By Dana Ewachow
Toronto’s Humber College Theatre presents a showcase of multi-talents in This Side of Heaven
This Side of Heaven cannot be contained by a stage. The show uses promenade staging, so that players and the audience mingle on the floor. The players travel across the large expanse, taking a moment to stare at the audience members who stay in their seats. They stop to make eye contact, to sing, or to wag their tongues mockingly. This Side of Heaven isn’t a play – it’s a spectacle.
This Side of Heaven is an experimental smorgasbord. There was dancing, singing, dialogue, monologue, puppetry, and circus acting. It was a taste of what Humber Theatre has to offer. A variety of talents compacted into a show. I was in awe of the multitude of what was unfurling in front of me.
Read the rest of this entry »
Review: The Wild Party (Acting Up Stage Company & Obsidian Theatre)
By Wayne Leung
Toronto’s Acting Up Stage Company & Obsidian Theatre present the ’20s jazz musical The Wild Party
It was the roaring ‘20s; the era of prohibition and bathtub gin, Vaudeville and minstrel shows, jazz and flappers. World War I was over and the economic boom it spurred ushered in an entire decade that felt like one big party. This is the world of The Wild Party, a musical by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe inspired by a scandalous 1928 narrative poem of the same title by Joseph Moncure March. This new production of the musical, a co-production of Acting Up Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre Company, is indeed a wild, if at times uneven, party. Read the rest of this entry »